THE FULL MANTE Vol 11, No 3 – All the News To Print That Fits – February 2, 2009

The word is out that the 19th Medical Campaign is in full swing. Crowds of patient patients waited at the three venues: Cruz Roja, Escuela Enfermera, Hospital General. The sun shone to greet us, too. There are so many persons of need, it is sometimes hard to focus on our MISSION STATEMENT:

TO PROVIDE HIGH QUALITY SPECIALIZED MEDICAL TREATMENT TO THE POOR TO TRAIN LOCAL DOCTORS AND NURSES IN MEDICAL/SURGICAL TECHNIQUES TO BUILD BRIDGES BETWEEN BOULDER, COLOADO AND CIUDAD MANTE, MEXICO

A serious situation with the Eye Team is missing supplies. A box of VISCO-ELASTIC, Ocucoat brand has never shown up. This is essential for cataract surgery. Jenelle, the Eye Team Lead, will try to get an additional donation of this, valued at $70 per dose. If none can be provided, it may affect the numbers of surgeries that can be performed. (Check your departmental supplies to see if there is a weird box).

New gadgets for use in Mante include an Automated Keratometer. It measures the cornea/surface of the eye and checks for astigmatism. An A-Scan measures how long the eye is. It cuts down on the time needed for these evaluations. Zury is a great help for the team.

Interesting pathology found this year includes basal cell carcinoma and corneal problems. The latter cannot be repaired here. There are disappointments, too. Juan came in for a cataract repair that caused blindness. But, the vision loss was due to glaucoma, not cataract. Neal B had to report that this was not reversible.

Out of the cave and into the light…fitting for reading glasses now has a bright room with great lights. Most persons are so thankful to get glasses, but some style mavens are looking for different colors or designs.

At the Hospital General many patients arrived bright and early to wait for their scheduled surgical appointments. Day one of surgery began as nurses, surgeons, and anesthesiologist formed teams to help patients with a plethora of symptoms.

Joel and his brother came from a small village two hours outside of Mante to receive treatment in tandem. Joel had an obstruction in his nasal passage and was receiving a third and hopefully final surgery. In good spirits his brother patiently waited, looking forward to his appointment at Cruz Roja on Wednesday to remove his cataract.

In the waiting room (or hall), Perla awaited a routine gal bladder surgery. However during triage, the nurse identified a small kidney stone. Perla decided to go forward with the arthroscopic surgery to remover her gall bladder immediately, during which Dr. Charlie would also try to identify if the kidney stone could also be removed with a minimally invasive procedure.

A small five year old boy was born with hemi facial microsomal, a malformed jaw and earlobe. Although he was too young to receive surgery this year, his face needed matured, his family was educated about the jaw expansion surgery that will happen next year, and the three ear reconstruction surgeries to follow.

Oh, my. Why so many referrals from GYN to PT at the Clinic? It seems as if many women have leakin’ bladders. PT instructs them in the famous Kegel maneuver. A comment was made that if you are in the line at the supermarket in Boulder and there are many women over 40, they are all doing Kegel!

There are angels in our midst. These include Sr Karim y Sra Nora. As their mission, each day they provide breads and coffee at Cruz Roja for any hungry folk. 80-100 people come for this feast.